In September 2008 Shagang decided to commemorate its past achievements with a monument in the square in front of the main administration office. Six rolling mills stand in an open train arrangement are installed under a red-framed gantry at the south side of the square. Two bronze “mill operators” feed the mill by hand. The mill stands are real and served the corporation during its hard times, now preserved to encapsulate the past. When the company’s founders started the business with RMB450,000 in October 1975, the first equipment installed was a diesel-driven rolling mill made from a dismantled vessel. Rolling manually used to be common practice and was a tough job. That was the start of a long, hard, brave and innovative 30-year journey, that still continues to this day. 
Background: The board of directors was formed in February 2006, when a series of M&A transaction activities were conducted. Companies like Huaigang Steel, Henan Anyang Yongxin Steel and Jiangsu Xingrui Special Steel became part of Shagang Group. At the same time, Shagang made an equity deal with Jiangsu Yongliang Steel. The Shagang International Trading Co. was established. The sales revenue of Shagang Group in 2007 was more than RMB100 billion, with over RMB10 billion in profit and RMB14.5 billion in tax. In the same year, as a core part of the “11th Five-Year Plan”, the No. 2 plate mill project, Ronsheng BOF project and the new hot strip mill project were started. This was done with the aim of restructuring product, saving energy and reducing emissions. However, economic problems such as the financial crisis of 2008 could not be avoided. The steel industry was hit hard. Even so, Shagang still managed to achieve RMB145.2 billion of revenue and generated RMB14.8 billion of profit and taxes, on the back of an efficiently run operation and sound growth.